Various annlyses of landing gear design are
,vesented, along with a discussion of critical
loading conditibns.
landing gear features an oleo-pneumatic shock strut
which, as the name suggests, is filled with oil and air.
The strut has a dual function: to dissipate the kinetic
energy of vertical velocity on landing, and to provide
ease and stability for ground maneuvering. A sche-
matic of an oleo-pneumatic shock strut is shown in
Figure 1. When the airplane lands, the oil is forced
from the lower chamber to the upper one through an orifice.
Most struts have a metering pin extending through this orifice
that strokes with the piston. By varying pin diameter, orifice
area is varied, allowing optimization of the shock strut effi-
ciency. Figure 2 shows typical landing gear components.
The landing gear also enables the aircraft to roll up to its
takeoff position and to take off without using a launching cata-
pult or trolley, as well as to carry its own means of braking,
without resorting to external arresting equipment. Shock struts
are designed to withstand a vertical sink rate of 10 ft/s for
commercial airplanes, and as much as 25 ft/s for carrier-based
aircraft. In service, the probability of a 10 ft/s touchdown is
about one in 10,000,000 for a commercial airliner.
Typical landing gear sizes are shown in Figure 3. One com-
pany that produces landing gear is BFGoodrich Landing Gear
Division. BFGoodrich produces landing gear for commercial
iets; executive jets; Air Force bombers, fighters, and transports;
Naval fighters and trainers; and helicopters. The gross weight of
these aircraft ranges from 9700 to 878,000 lb. The firm is cur-
rently designing landing gear for a New Large Airplane that has
a mass exceeding 1,000,000 lb.
The two basic types of landing gear are cantilever and articu-
lated. The most widely used configuration is cantilever, which is
also the most cost and weight efficient. With this type, the shock
strut supports drag and side loads. Illustrations of single-axle
a n d double-axle cantilever gear are shown in Figure 4.
Articulated gear are used for cases in which the ground
clearance is low or stowage room is limited. They offer a
maintenance advantage, since the shock strut can be removed in
the field without major effort. European companies often prefer
articulated gear to obtain a smoother taxi ride over uneven
runways. The shock strut is pin ended and does not support
drag and side loads.
Aerospace Engineering/March 1996
Semi-articulated gear configuration is similar to fully articu-
lated, except that the cylinder also acts as a structural member,
and carries drag and side loads. This type of gear is not widely
used. Fully articulated and semi-articulated gear are shown in
Figure 5 .
Flotation analysis determines the capability of an aircraft to
operate on a specific airfield. Flotation capability is primarily a
function of total shock strut load, single-wheel load, and tire
pressure. On this basis, the number of tires, tire size, and tire
spacing are determined. Main gear are typically of a tandem,
dual-tandem, or tri-dual-tandem configuration. Nose gear con-
sist of a single or dual arrangement.
Some gear must undergo sequenced shape change, such as
retraction or planing, to fit in the wheel well when retracted. A
rotating or planing mechanism is then designed into the gear.
Another method consists of shrinking the shock strut during
retraction to clear the gear into the wheel well. Other special
features include provisions for uplocking the gear in the wheel
well, bogie positioners to adjust the attitude of the truck beam for
stowage, and launching mechanisms for navai applications.
Although it might be assumed that the landing gear is sub-
jected to its highest loads during landing, in reality, landing
conditions are critical for only about 20% of the landing gear
structure. Ground handling conditions, especially turning and
taxiing, are critical for the remainder of the structure.
Every landing gear has its own set of loads, which are critical
for various components of the gear. For a given gear, landing
load conditions which may be critical include maximum sink-
speed landing, level landing, tail landing, lateral drift landing,
spin up, and spring back. Critical ground handling load condi-
tions include taxiing, towing, turning, jacking, braking, pivot-
ing, and steering. Other load conditions consist of extension and
retraction actuator load, brake application during retraction,
brake chatter, shimmy, rebound, catapult launching, uplock/
 downlock, and tie-down loads.
Landing gear loads include limit loads,
which are the highest loads that the gear
A,
may be subjected to during its service life.
Ultimate loads are limit loads multiplied
by a safety factor of 1.5. Fatigue loads
consist of a spectrum of realistic loads to
which the structure will be subjected dur-
ing its service life. Sustained loads are
those on the gear components from carry-
ing the weight of the airplane, 1-g, in static
condition, or those due to shrinking the
shock strut.
Structural analyses of landing gear in-
clude static, fatigue, fracture mechanics,
damage tolerance, sustained stress, finite
element, and weight-strength optimiza-
tion analyses.
Static analysis incorporates tests for the
following:
ultimate static strength -stresses due to
ultimate loads are not allowed to exceed
the ultimate allowables of the component
material
Figure 1. Oleo-pneumatic shock absorber.
yield strength - stresses due to limit
loads are not- allowed to exceed the yield allowabies of the
component material (no permanent deformation is permitted
under limit loads)
static and dynamic gear stability - especially during high-
speed takeoff roll
component stability -column checks of compression-loaded
components.
In the detailed analysis, all the stresses - axial, shear, bend-
ing, and torsion -are calculated at a section, and a stress ratio is
calculated for each by dividing the stress by the allowable
4:. ,
Aft trunnion beartng
T,-"nnion
Downlock actuator
Lower side strut
Truck positioning actuator
Positioning mechanism
Upper torsion link
, wheel, and brake
torsion link pull box
Figure 2. Component nomenclature.
14
strength of the component material. Then
Orifice ruppon tube a utilization factor is determined by com-
bining all the stress ratios. This factor
must be maintained at less than 1.0 to have
(air) a positive margin of safety.
Fatigue design criterion of aircraft
structures are usually one of the follow-
ing: infinite-life, safe-life, fail-safe, and
damage-tolerant design. Because landing
gear structures do not have redundancy in
their means of support, the safe-life crite-
Recoil chamber
rion is used. The calculation of the
component's life may be based on stress-
life or strain-life relations. The safe life
includes margins for the scatter of fatigue
results and for other unknown factors.
The fatigue life consists of crack-initiation
and crack-propagation stages.
Landing gear materials usually feature
an initiation stage, consisting of 90-95% of
the total life, and a propagation stage of 5-
10% of the total life. Because of this safe-
life criterion, landing gear must have de-
fined inspection techniques, frequencies,
. A
and replacement times so that probability
of failure due to fatigue cracking is extremely remote.
Many military programs require sufficient residual strength
for a damaged structure to be able to withstand limit loads
without catastrophic failure. In the detailed fatigue analysis,
each load/unload cycle constitutes a fatigue pair. Stresses/
strains at each end are determined. An equivalent, fully reversed
stress level or strain range is calculated, and from the stress-life
or strain-life relation, the life is determined. These relations are
curves of test data for the material. By dividing the life read from
--
Small Medium Large
Grumman Gulfstream I1 Conva~r880 Boe~ng747
Boelng 737 * Boemg 707 Douglas DC-10
McDonnell F4B Douqlas DC-8
North American OV-1OA ~ockheedC-141
Ling Ternco Vought F8H Grumrnan A6A
North Amercan T2B
McDonnell F4C
Douglas DC-9
McDonnell F-15
I
Figure 3. Typical landing gear sizes.
the curve by the required life for the subject load pair, the
damage ratio for this loading condition is determined. Similarly,
the damage ratio is determined for all loading conditions. The
summation of all damage ratios is referred to as cumulative
damage ratio - and it should not exceed 1.0.
Fracture mechanics and damage tolerance analyses are per-
formed to predict the growth of an existing crack. Sustained
stresses caused by 1-8 static reaction are checked on components
such as axles, truck beams, and trunnion pins, and must be
below the allowable sustained stress threshold of the material.
The finite element method (FEM) of analysis has become
widely used in areas of redundant load paths and complex
geometric transitions. Weight/strength optimization is an espe-
cially important task of the structural analysis. The landing gear
Aerospace Engineering/March 1996
 structure must be of sound structurai in-
tegrity and at a minimum possible weight.
The value of a pound of weight is worth
about $200-$300 on a recurring basis.
Performance analyses must also be
conducted on landing gear. Shimmy
analysis is performed to determine
whether the gear will shimmy during
high-speed roll, and provide the necessary
damping. (Shimmy is a self-induced
buildup of a high-frequency oscillation of
a landing gear structure.) Retraction
analysis is performed to size the retract
actuator to enable gear retraction into the
wheel well in a required time span. Paper
Brace
drop analysis is performed to size the ori-
fice and the metering pin to meet landing
energy dissipation requirements, and is
later verified by actual drop testing. Re-
bound analysis is performed to calculate
loads from the sudden extension of the
shock strut during takeoff, and provide
damping, if needed. Kinematics analysis
checks the trajectories of components dur-
ing retraction and extension to assure that
there is no interference between two com- igure 4. Cantilever gear.
ponents or with adjacent structures along
the entire path. ~aunch-bardynamics and kinematics analysis is
performed for naval nose gear.
Reliability and maintainability analyses are also performed.
In addition, such issues as material compatibiiity, wear protec-
tion, and corrosion protection are considered.
Cylinder
Piston
Lever
\
\ /
Figure 5. Articulated gear.
Aerospace EngineeringIMarch 1996
Another considera tion in designing
landing gear is material selection. Land-
ing gear materials must be of high
strength and stiffness, low cost and
weight, and have good machinability,
weldability, and forgeability. They also
must be resistant to corrosion, stress cor-
rosion, hydrogen embrittlement, and
arms
crack initiation and propagation. Because
of the stringent requirements, landing
gear components are fabricated from
forgings. Castings have not been accept-
-E?- able for landing gear structures due to
bubie-ade poor fatigue-related characteristics such
as grain flow and porosity.
The most widely used landing gear
steel is 300M steel. It is heat treated to a
280,000-psi strength level. European
equivalents to 300M are S155 and
35NCD16 steels. Recently developed
Aermet 100 has the strength of 300M and
substantially superior fracture toughness
and stress corrosion thresholds. It is also
Brake rods five times the cost of 300M. When
strength is not critical, but stiffness is,
180,000-psi 4340 steel is used. HP-9-4-30
and HY-TUF steel have a 220,000-psi
strength, but a high fracture toughness, and have been widely
used in naval gear.
Among nonferrous alloys, the most widely used are high-
strength titanium alloys such as Ti-1OV-2Fe-3Al and Ti-6A1-6V-
lSn, and high-strength aluminum alloys such as 7075-T73 and
7175-T74. European equivalents are IMI1551 titanium and AZ74
aluminum.
Manufacturing and processing considerations are also criti-
cal. A typical outer cylinder for a widebody jet is made from a
forging. For example, the forge shop starts with an 8000-lb
round billet, and using a series of dies and tremendously high
loads, shapes the billet into a forging that resembles the envelope
of the finished part. This process takes place a: approximately
2000°F.
After thermal treatment, the forging is shipped to the gear
manufacturer in a subcritical annealed condition, with a
Rockwell "C" hardness around 25, and a 120,000-psi tensile
strength. In this condition, the part goes through numerous
rough machining operations:
location of tooling points
profiling
rough boring of inside diameters
rough turning of outside diameters
rough drilling of lug holes
rough milling of faces
barbering, or metal finishing.
At this stage, the close tolerance features are not machined to
the final blueprint requirements, anticipating some distortion
during heat treatment. After rough machining, the part is heat
treated to its final condition -Rockwell "C" hardness 53-55, and
a tensile strength of 250,000-300,000 psi. Following heat treat-
ment, all the features are machined to the blueprint require-
ments. Final turning, boring, and milling occur at this stage.
Further operations include:
cutting of threads
drilling, boring, and reaming of lug holes
grinding, as necessary
 -i Aft spherical
nital etch inspected to 'issure no
thermal damage during machining
stress relieved
magnetic particle inspected to as-
sure no cracks, indications,
discontinuities
shot peened to induce residual
compressive stresses on the surface
of the part, and enhance fatigue re-
sistance
wear surfaces are chrome plated
cadmium plated for corrosion re-
sistance
embrittlement relief baked to pre-
vent hydrogen embrittlement
chrome is ground, if required
final magnetic particle inspection
is conducted
bushings are installed
primed
painted
strut is assembled
I leakage of the strut is tested per
Figure 6. Bare and dressed gear. blueprint requirements.
To validate the design, and obtain
honing of inside diameters gear qualification and certification, landing gear structures may
final barbering and blending corner radii. be subjected to the following tests:
At this stage, the part is finish machined, and weighs about Drop testing to verify the capability of the gear to dissipate the
1200 lb, or 6800 Ib lighter than the forging. These 6800 lb went kinetic landing energy
into chips. Following machining, the part is: Ultimate static testing verifies the ability of the structure to
dimensionally inspected support ultimate loads without failure for three seconds
Limit load testing to verify lack of permanent deformation of
the structure
Fatigue testing to demonstrate the ability to withstand spec-
trum loading
Photostress testing may be done on a plastic model to locate
high stress areas before the actual parts are being produced. The
test occurs during design.
Strain gauge surveys are performed to correlate calculated
stresses with the actuals
Element tests are performed on an isolated component to
eliminate larger setups
Sudden extension testing
Retraction/extension testing
Environmental testing.
Engineers foresee some trends in landing gear design. One of
these concerns the transfer of system integration responsibilities
from airplane manufacturers to landing gear suppliers. Landing
gear systems, including the gear, wheel, brake, tire, hydraulic
plumbing, electric harnesses, and microswitches, are expected to
I Circle Seal Motor Operated Valves become the responsibility of landing gear suppliers. Bare and
deliver exceptional! reliability. dressed gear are illustrated in Figure 6.
Complete line of motor-ooerated aate. ball. Smart structures, carrying embedded microgauges, will be-
come increasingly important, as more emphasis is given to
health monitoring of aging airplanes. High-strength composites
meet MIL-V-8608 and MIL-M-8609 318" to 5' ' will find applications in landing gear structures. Oil-level moni-
slzes Capabilities to 50,000 cycles or more. toring devices will be produced; and steels, titaniums, and
Special des~gncapability to meet custom or a* aluminums of higher strength and toughness will be developed.
system requirements. Inline and
cartridge tvpes
Information for this article was provided by Jack Pink, BFGoodrich
/SO9001 Certified
Landing Gear Division.
CIRCLE SEAL CONTROLS
Waits /i~du~?i~es,
lix
Class Valves World liz trrestil-rg topic? Circle 239
Not interestrt~~y? Circle 230
C'irvlc 3 12 on Keadcr Scnf1c.eCard
16 Aerospace Engineering/March 1996